Nightmare Child
by sakurasage272
Summary: Sakura Haruno. Banished from her village as a small child for the massacre of her clan. Now, she's alone and forced to live with herself and the nightmare inside of her, that is until the Akatsuki decides to capture her for her power. ItaSaku.
1. Prologue

I've had this idea on my mind for quite a while now. Hopefully it turns out well. :)

Summary: The life of a shinobi is gruesome, hard and full of tragedies. Especially the life of one girl born into a world where her fate is known by only her family. She's kept hidden from the world, only able to explore the world of her mothers garden. Until the faithful day when the monster inside her is unleashed, and her world becomes a nightmare.

**Rated M – Mature.**

CAPS – Yelling.

_Italics – Thoughts/flashbacks_

"Text." - Talking.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other characters in this story.

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><p>It was a cool spring day in the land of Konoha, and inside the Haruno section of the village, little bare feet of a 5 year old girl grazed the cool, soft green grass of her mothers garden. Beautifully bloomed flowers and the fragrance of fresh laundry hanging on the line to dry surrounded her. The little girl had long elegant locks of flowing, thick pink hair that was graced with a wonderful red bow atop of her head, separating her bangs from the rest of her hair. Her eyes were like a forest on a bright sunny day, happy and glowing. Although, not everything seemed wonderful about this little girl. Underneath her little white dress; her arms, legs, torso and neck were covered by bandages. Wrapped securely, so they wouldn't fall off and reveal the marks of her worst nightmare. Her name was Sakura Haruno.<p>

The Haruno family had a secret. Their ancestors had foretold that there would be a demon, a monster inside their family. That only one made of the purest souls may possess it. Her mother was a wonderful woman. Never had she sinned once in her life. She was a cheerful, caring person. Always took other people before herself. Her father was just like her. Gentle, wise and happy. She seemed to have the perfect life. Her family was close and loving, never an alter in the aura of the Haruno sect until the day the nightmare inside Sakura snapped. It needed to be free, it needed to shed blood. It needed violence.

That day, Sakura Haruno was accused and banished from her village for the massacre of her family. Left to wander the wilderness and find a place to live. She had learned the ways of the woods, where the best spots to camp out were, where to find food and altogether, how to provide for herself, and only herself. Sakura learned how to be one with the forest, how to feel the approach of a predator or possible threat, how to fight like a true rouge shinobi.

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><p>End Prologue. I hope you guys enjoyed it. :)<p>

Sorry its so short! The next chapter will be a hell of a lot longer, and is currently being written.

xoxoxox;


	2. Chapter 1: It Begins

Summary: The life of a shinobi is gruesome, hard and full of tragedies. Especially the life of one girl born into a world where her fate is known by only her family. She's kept hidden from the world, only able to explore the world of her mothers garden. Until the faithful day when the monster inside her is unleashed, and her world becomes a nightmare.

**Rated M – Mature.**

CAPS – Yelling.

_Italics – Thoughts/flashbacks/dreams._

"Text." - Talking.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other characters in this story.

The dark forest quivered and shook in the cool night air, and owl hooting a lonely song somewhere in the distance. The soft pat of feet every now and then as someone skillfully moved the the trees with grace and elegance. A woman with a tall, slender physique. Long, silky pink locks flowing behind her like a glorious mane of a horse running free. Skin that wasn't covered by white drapes of bandages, was smooth and milky. Almost porcelain, doll-like. Her clothes were neat and clean. A small black skirt, and a wrap around black, strapless belly shirt. She had been hunting her dinner all night, and she was getting impatient. She liked the stalk and pounce game. She was life a little wolf, playing with her food. Finally, she found her opening. Taking out the gleaming kunai from her pouch, she readied herself to jump down and onto the buck she had been stalking.

With as much grace as she could, she leaped from the branch, falling silently and landed straight on the deers back, driving the kunai through its skull with the impact of her fall. She heard the legs snap as her and the deer fell to the ground. She rolled off it, inspecting her kill. It was fat, well fed. Very smooth fur. It was a fine kill, and it would make a good blanket for the winter. Hoisting the rather large creature on her shoulder, she began walking back to her little campsite deep in the woods, where she would finally have a good meal. Big dear were getting scarce, and she left the little deer alone in high hopes that they would grow to be big and meaty. Although she rarely saw them. It was like someone was out there with her, dealing with the same thing. Just trying to survive on the wilderness.

On the other side of the forest, two men had stopped to set up camp and rest for the night, for their journey in the morning was a long one. The bigger, fishy looking one slipped off his black cloak, getting ready to relax after a full day of traveling. Although, his idea of relaxation was sipping off a bottle of sake and staring at the small fire infront of him. It was a big enough fire to keep them both warm while they slept, but small enough not to draw too much attention to them.

The other male was shorter then the other, with long black hair that was tied into a low ponytail with a piece of red ribbon. He was holding onto his cloak with his hand as it was tossed over his shoulder. There was a slight chilling breeze in the air, it was a definite sign that summer was almost over. He dreaded the winter. He didn't mind the cold, but he hated all the white. He was staring up at the full moon, his mind blank. It wasn't long before the man on the ground was drunk, he narrowed his eyes at nothing and dropped down, grabbing the sake bottle out of the mans hand and throwing it into the bushes. His sharingan ablaze, boring deep black holes into the mans skull.

"You need to learn to shut your mouth Kisame, or I'll sew your mouth shut while you sleep." The man grumbled. Said man, Kisame just nodded his head, obeying the smaller, but much more powerful figure infront of him.

"Yeah, okay Itachi. Sorry." Kisame didn't feel like getting on Itachi's bad side today, so he kept his mouth shut and dozed off into a silent sleep. Itachi put his cloak on, and sat down at the base of a big oak tree. He didn't want to sleep, but he figured it'd be best for the both of them if he did. He shut his eyes for a few minutes, he hadn't realized how tired he was, it just hit him like a ton of bricks. His head started to fall sideways and before he knew it, he too, was in a deep, silent slumber.

Sakura had kept herself busy by cutting the meat off the dear, hanging the hide to dry and cook the meat. She fashioned the deer antlers into multiples knives, they worked well, too. After she had fed herself, and packed up all the meat into nice little packages, she set off on another adventure to get fresh water. The river she had been living by was only good to wash up in, not to drink, even if you had boiled it. The closest place to get fresh, clean spring water, was all the way at the other side of the forest. She went there often, it was darker then the side of the forest usually stayed in, but for some reason she could see better in the dark than she could in the light. She had always heard people talk about her, how she was different. And then she killed her family. But she didn't remember it, she remembered getting really mad at her cousin for teasing her about her bandages, and then blacked out. When she woke up, she was covered in blood, and the streets of the Haruno sect were littered by corpses of her family members, and her parents. Sakura shook her head and stopped on a tree, putting her hands over her eyes and kneeling down. She hated thinking about it, she hated knowing that she was the reason her family members didn't get to live the rest of their days. She'd been alone ever since the incident. She liked it that way, to ensure she'd never hurt anyone again.

There was a sudden noise of someone yelling something. She sucked her body against the tree, listening intently. Over the years, all over her senses had increased dramatically. She could hear an ant walking on the ground if she focused hard enough. She could smell the sent of anything from a mile away, or more. Right now she smelt sake and a small fire. She could hear a man talking in a deep, dark voice. The other had hushed. Her ears perked when she heard eachothers names. She jumped silently, using more grace then before to ensure they wouldn't see nor hear her. She jumped closer, and closer. Each tree limb was one step closer to them, before she reached the tree the blue man named Kisame was sleeping next to. She closed her eyes, whispering a soft sleeping jutsu on the men. It worked like a charm on Kisame, but she was a little skeptical of this Itachi man. He didn't seem at all effected by the jutsu, until he finally sat down and dozed off. She congratulated herself on the job she had done and jumped down from the tree, her knew length hair trailing behind her.

Her first step was to check to see if they were really asleep. She flicked Kisame's nose and he didn't even move, just snored a little. '_Hm, yup he's out.' _She looked over at Itachi, who looked rather peaceful and relaxed. She cautiously walked over to him, kneeling infront of his sleeping persona. She studied his face in the moonlight, he had beautiful skin with the exception of the tired lines under his eyes. The scars on his face were perfectly symmetrical, and very handsome. She reached out her hand to touch his cheek, her semi-long fingernails grazing his skin. She shivered softly, his skin was so cold, just like hers. She shook her head and dropped her hand away from his face and stood up, looking around the campsite for things she could use. She found a few pots to cook things in, she found a medical kit and a few scrolls. Emptied out one of their bags and stuffed her new items inside. She looked around once more, her eyes lingering on the man named Itachi before she took off into the trees, off to her next destination to the water spring, which wasn't very far. She filled up her canteens with the crystal clear water and was on her way again, little did she know there was a secret in her new pack, something the Akatsuki would kill for.

The next morning Itachi awoke to Kisame yelling profanities about being robbed, he didn't really comprehend what he was saying until he woke up a bit more and took a good look around the camp. It was true, someone had come in and taken their things. A sudden jolt went through his stomach and torso as he looked around the his pack. The contents of his pack were spewed out on the ground, minus a few unimportant things. But, there was no scrolls laying around. He growled under his breath and looked around for any signs as to where the bandit or whomever had robbed them had gone. He looked around on the ground, very closely at the items that were laying around. He saw something shining in the morning sun on a pair of clothing that had been taken out of the bag, it was a long, pink hair. He picked it up and inspected it, thinking silently to himself.

"Kisame, you stay here. They have the scroll." Itachi rolled up the piece of hair around his finger and took off. '_Who in the hell could have taken that scroll. They obviously used a sleeping jutsu, that's why we didn't wake up. Hm, they must be a pretty worthy opponent if they steal leader-sama's scroll with such ease.' _He had been pondering back and forth about things in his mind before he caught the scent of a fire, and someone cooking meat. He had seemed to travel pretty far, otherwise he would've been able to smell it sooner. He stopped on a thick branch along the treeline, crouching behind a thicket of dark green leaves. There, in a small clearing was a petite female with rosy pink locks atop her head. He looked down at the strand wrapped around his finger, and decided he didn't need it anymore and dropped it. He inspected the woman for a little while, watching her work. She was busy gutting and chopping heads off a few fish for lunch, then putting them on a rotating stick she had made herself. She was quite crafty. But not crafty enough if she hadn't even sensed his presence yet, or so it seemed.

Once Sakura had gotten back to the camp, she decided to call it a night. She used a simple water jutsu to put out the fire, she took the meat that was hanging to dry and packed it up in her tent so scavengers wouldn't get to it. She set up the wires with bells on them that she confiscated off some drunken goof that had passed out along the trail to sunagakure. When she was all settled inside, she used her fireball jutsu to create a small fire in the fire pit she had in the tent. Laying down in her soft bed, she stared up into the stars from the opening in the top of the tent for smoke, and imagined what her life would be like if she had never been cursed by these markings, by this demon inside her. She rolled over onto her side, relaxing herself into slumber.

_ It was dark in the Haruno complex, everyone was sleeping, except Sakura. She had been up all night, tomorrow was her cousins birthday party, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep. She'd gotten him the best present ever, and everyone was going to be jealous. The little girl smiled as she lay back down in her cozy little bed and smiled as she fell asleep. _

_ She felt like she had only been asleep for a second, but she'd been asleep for a whole 5 hours. She looked at the clock, it was almost 9. She got up, she hadn't realized it was so late when she went to bed, almost 4am. She shuffled her bandaged up feet down the stairs and into the kitchen, where her mother had prepared her breakfast. _

_ "Good morning sweetheart. How did you sleep?" Sakura's mother smiled at the young girl, setting down a plate of toast, bacon and a hashbrown. _

_ "I slept well, I'm still a little tired though." Sakura lied, forcing back a yawn._

_ "Well, thats good. I heard you got your cousin a birthday present?" She stood behind the small child, brushing her gorgeous locks of hair._

_ "Yes I did mommy! It's gonna be the best gift ever!" Sakura threw up her hands, immediately getting excited about the whole subject._

_ "Do you mind me asking what it is?" Asked her mother, getting curious as to just where her daughter had gotten such a wonderful gift for her cousin._

_ "I can't tell you mommy, it's a secret. But you'll see at his birthday party tonight. I'm gonna go get dressed and play in the garden now, mommy." Sakura giggled and finished her hashbrown, and running off to her room to get dressed._

Sakura awoke to a bright shining light hitting her in the eyes from a small tear in her tent. She needed to fix that. She stretched out her body and lay there for a few moments, until getting her things together and walked out into one of the last summer days. She first sat down and made a fire, and put the last of the meat up to dry. She walked over to the creek and washed out her bloody and dirty clothing, then hanging them to dry on a nearby tree. She then sat down and rumaged through the backpack while snacking on a piece of meat. She took out the pots and put them by the fire, inspecting them. They looked like good metal material, she could finally make something other than dried meat. She looked through the medical kit, finding new bandages, hers were getting worn and ratty, a sewing kit, she could use this to fix the tent and make blankets and clothes. She found infection treatment creams, burn creams, about everything you could imagine. Even toothpaste and a toothbrush. She smiled, and looked through the scrolls. They were new jutsu's, she found a water jutsu, and went next to the creek and tried it out.

Frustrated with the scrolls, she put them away and decided to catch some fish. She got her dear antler knife that was attached to a long, straight wooden stick and stood very still in the water. Her eyes darting around the water to find a fish. Finally, she spotted one and stuck the antler through its body, and another, and another. By the time she was done, there were 4 fish. She decided to start gutting and cutting them to cook for lunch instead of just having meat again. She longed for something other than meat or fish.

Sakura could feel the presence of another, somewhere behind her as she gutted her last fish, and hung them above the fire. She began washing her hands off in the creek, looking in the water to check for any reflections or something out of place. Nothing. But she was sure something was there. She stood up and casually walked over to a little wooden chest, pulling out six kunai. She put them in her fingers, then quickly turned around and hucked the three that were in one hand, and jumped up after them. She heard someone deflect all her kunai, grunting in aggravation, she landed on the tree branch, her bare feet not making a sound, her hand held up beside her face, in a ready position to attack.

^o^ annnd first chapter is finished! I must say, I'm kind of happy with it. I'll probably be updating again tomorrow. :)

xoxoxox;


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